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Student trust in AI coding tools grows briefly, then levels off with experience

How much do undergraduate computer science students trust chatbots powered by large language models like GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT? And how should computer science educators modify their teaching based on these levels of trust?

These were the questions that a group of U.S. computer scientists set out to answer in a study that will be presented at the Koli Calling conference Nov. 11 to 16 in Finland. In the course of the study’s few weeks, researchers found that trust in generative AI tools increased in the short run for a majority of students.

But in the long run, students said they realized they needed to be competent programmers without the help of AI tools. This is because these tools often generate incorrect or would not help students with code comprehension tasks.

The right dose for the brain: Selenomethionine’s role in protecting dopaminergic neurons

Dopamine is often called the brain’s “motivation molecule,” but for me, it represents something deeper, a window into how fragile our neurons can be. The cells that produce dopamine, known as dopaminergic neurons, are among the first to die in Parkinson’s disease, leading to the motor symptoms that gradually rob patients of movement and independence.

To understand what makes these neurons so vulnerable, I used an in-vitro model where I exposed N27 dopaminergic cells to 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), a toxin that triggers oxidative stress, like what occurs in the Parkinsonian brain. Then, I introduced Selenomethionine (SeMet), an organic form of selenium, to test whether this compound could counteract the damage and help the neurons survive.

Selenium has long intrigued scientists for its paradoxical nature. It is a trace element essential for antioxidant defense, yet in excess it can become toxic. I wanted to see whether a specific range of SeMet concentrations could offer meaningful protection without tipping that balance. My study, carried out at Charles University and the National Institute of Mental Health (NUDZ) in the Czech Republic, set out to define that “safe and effective window.” It is published in the journal In vitro models.

Fintech’s New Power Couple: AI And Trust

At Money20/20 I learned that Fintech has a new power couple, AI and Trust.

The combination of the two is the payment protocol of tomorrow. Come along with me as I share my findings from the world’s #1 fintech show.

There is bunch of interviews and images forthcoming from the event.

Thanks again to Tedd Huff of Fintech Confidential for inviting me to participate in the event. It allowed me to share My Instant AI with event attendees.

(https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/fintechs-new-power-couple-ai-…urke-eirte)

Tedd Huff asked me to be a confidential informant in Las Vegas recently. But, wait before you go down conspiracy theory rabbit hole, please let me explain.

Continue reading “Fintech’s New Power Couple: AI And Trust” | >

What Is a Manifold?

Standing in the middle of a field, we can easily forget that we live on a round planet. We’re so small in comparison to the Earth that from our point of view, it looks flat.

The world is full of such shapes — ones that look flat to an ant living on them, even though they might have a more complicated global structure. Mathematicians call these shapes manifolds. Introduced by Bernhard Riemann in the mid-19th century, manifolds transformed how mathematicians think about space. It was no longer just a physical setting for other mathematical objects, but rather an abstract, well-defined object worth studying in its own right.

This new perspective allowed mathematicians to rigorously explore higher-dimensional spaces — leading to the birth of modern topology, a field dedicated to the study of mathematical spaces like manifolds. Manifolds have also come to occupy a central role in fields such as geometry, dynamical systems, data analysis and physics.

Pan-immunotherapy biomarker for treatment monitoring

The ability of immune cells—particularly CD8+ T cells—to launch a rapid burst of proliferation inside tumors is key to the success of modern day cancer immunotherapies. However, the factors and mechanisms that drive this burst in proliferation remain poorly understood, making it difficult to predict which patients will benefit from treatment. A deeper understanding of this T cell burst could also guide the development of new therapies that enhance T cell proliferation and improve treatment outcomes.

To tackle this challenge, an international team of researchers developed a novel approach to monitor CD8 ⁺ T cell activity over time. Their findings, recently published in the journal Nature Communications, sheds new light on how T cells expand in the tumor—and how their expansion can be predicted, and ultimately, therapeutically reactivated.

“The development of immunotherapies has been hindered by our inability to comprehensively monitor their effects on immune cells—particularly cancer-fighting T cells—over time,” explainsthe author. “Building on our previous work, we developed a method to track these cells longitudinally in the tumor, allowing us to gain deeper insights into the burst of proliferation that drives effective anti-tumor responses.”

Mycobacterium tuberculosis biology, pathogenicity and interaction with the host

In this Review, Warner, Barczak, Gutierrez and Mizrahi explore essential aspects of Mycobacterium tuberculosis physiology and biology, present recent advances related to its pathogenesis, metabolism and immune evasion mechanisms, and propose future directions for research.

How a tiny RNA molecule in the kidney triggers a deadly autoimmune disease

Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB) and the University of Bonn have discovered how a small, naturally occurring RNA molecule in the kidney activates a mutated immune receptor, triggering a chain reaction.

In cooperation with Nanyang Technological University Singapore and the University Hospital Würzburg, among others, the study provides an explanation of how a in the immune receptor RIG-I transforms the body’s defense system into a self-destructive force and causes severe organ-specific autoimmune diseases.

The results have been published in the journal Science Immunology.

Consistent Adherence to Physical Activity Guidelines and Digestive System Cancer Risk and Mortality

This cohort study using data from 3 large US prospective cohorts assesses whether adherence to the recommended physical activity level measured in metabolic equivalent task over time is associated with lower digestive system cancer risk.

Why we used to sleep in two segments — and how the modern shift changed our sense of time

From the article:

“In multi-week sleep studies that simulate long winter nights in darkness and remove clocks or evening light, people in lab studies often end up adopting two sleeps with a calm waking interval. A 2017 study of a Madagascan agricultural community without electricity found people still mostly slept in two segments, rising at about midnight.”

There’s a reason you sometimes wake up in the middle of the night.

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